The city zoning board voted down an application to open its first mosque during an often heated six-hour public meeting

BAYONNE, N.J.—The city zoning board has voted down an application to open its first mosque following a six-hour public meeting that exposed simmering religious tensions in this New Jersey community of 63,000.

The mosque has been fiercely debated since it was first proposed more than a year ago, and interest in Monday’s zoning board meeting was so high that the hearing was moved from city hall to Bayonne High School’s auditorium to...